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weekly journal
JANVIER
2002 What's Coming for Ottawa in 2002?
The short answer is that many aspects of amalgamation must still be addressed.
First of all, however, will be a piece of regular business, -setting the City's first real budget. Last year's exercise did not allow for the regular process. Our staff did not have time to assess the needs of the new City and propose options for Council's consideration. The 2001 budget was effectively inherited from the Transition Board. The coming budget will follow a more usual process, including the opportunity for public participation. Already, indications are that difficult choices will have to be faced by the public and Council. Everyone should remember that the City will be facing not only amalgamation-related issues (e.g. the Library acquisitions budget and new branch requirements) and 'regular' issues (e.g. Police, OC Transpo, support for the Arts requirements) but also issues related to downloading of important responsibilities from the Province (e.g. Ambulance and Public Housing). As if that is not enough, we all know that pressure is already coming from a file that is fully within the Province's purview. I am speaking about the very difficult situation facing our local hospitals. As usual, as soon as the draft budget documents are available, I will be hosting a public information session in the Ward. No date is available yet but sometime in February looks likely. Please stay tuned.
Amalgamation-related topics to come up in 2002 include:
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The City's new Official Plan. The 'Smart Growth Summit' last June launched the review of the Official Plan for the new city. Ottawa is geographically the largest municipality in the province, which has significant implications for the way we as a community set our goals. The manner in which a city grows has the most important consequences for future tax rates and quality of life issues. It has implications for the vigour of our economy, for our transportation network (mass transit and bridges), for the vitality of the Arts, for the availability of recreational facilities as well as for the health and safety of our society along with the affordability of all of the above. The Mayor is correct that this is a decision which must be taken with the greatest possible community consensus.
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Harmonising bylaws. We are still living with the patchwork legacy of bylaws inherited from the previous 30+ year history of two-tier municipal government. These will include noise by-laws, pet-related by-laws and pesticide by-laws to mention a few. Harmonising should not mean uniformity. Bylaws in such a large and diverse City will need to recognise and accommodate the nature of our various communities and business sectors.
This year will see big changes in public housing. Last year Council decided to amalgamate City Living and Ottawa Housing, creating an organisation with some 14,600 housing units. A new Board will come into existence in April. A new general manager will have been hired. There is also a review of the current practice of housing seniors and non-seniors with developmental difficulties in the same buildings. This last issue arose out of a change, which was proposed for 540 Thomson last fall to address the serious problems which had surfaced at that residence in recent years. The proposal was to officially reconvert that building back to the status of a seniors-only residence that it had enjoyed prior to 1996. That issue was successfully resolved (twice!) at the Board of Ottawa Housing. Thomson will now accept only seniors as vacancies occur. No one will face eviction as a result of that policy change. The review will examine whether the practise of age-mix (read "needs-mix") should continue for other buildings in the portfolio.
It is expected that the lands of the former CFB Rockcliffe will be examined in the coming year. If so, you can expect that it will be the subject of extensive and intensive discussions. Those lands form one of the largest redevelopable parcels within the urban core of Ottawa. It will be very important that the best options (in the Smart Growth sense) are considered if DND and the Federal authorities decide that the lands are no longer required for their purposes.
Season's Greetings
I take this opportunity, on behalf of my family and myself, to extend to all Best Wishes for Peace, Health and Prosperity in 2002.
Meilleurs vœux
Je profite de cette occasion pour vous souhaiter mes meilleurs vœux pour une année heureuse et prospère.
You can communicate with me at (please include a telephone number):
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1
Tel: 580-2483, Fax: 580-2523
e-mail: jacques.legendre@city.ottawa.on.ca
Web Site: www.rideau-rockcliffe.com
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